It is known that motor vehicles may be manufactured in various construction types, for example with a self-supporting body or a body which is not self-supporting and which may be built on a supporting platform which is also known as a frame, an underbody or a chassis.
As a so-called “body shell,” a motor vehicle may comprise such a platform composed of metal and a body composed of metal, which is fitted on the platform.
Various drives for motor vehicles are also known, such as a petrol drive, an electric drive, a hybrid drive or a drive using alternative fuels such as natural gas, hydrogen and alcohol. These drives require different installation spaces in the vehicle architecture, especially in the floor region. The very different energy stores of the drives are conventionally located in this region. In conventional methods for manufacturing motor vehicles, a wide variety of body variants are therefore produced for combinations of various drives, different colors and different vehicle types, for example, estates, limousines etc., which have to be held available in a storage zone after coating (so-called “paint buffers”) so that they may be retrieved quickly for manufacturing a desired complete vehicle.